And I’m not entirely sure I can adequately explain what you see at “Odysee” (“Voyage”), only that my conclusion is, “Wow!”

All pro-lifers have seen probably a dozen (or many dozens of) fetal development videos. In my experience, with rare exceptions, they are exceptionally helpful.

Among my favorites is “From Conception to Birth: a Life Unfolds” by Alexander Tsiaras. He catalogued his work in “Conception to Birth: a Life Unfolds” (published in 2002) and then animated this in a series of 40 videos – one for each week –on his website.

So what makes “Odysee” special? Here’s my amateur explanation:

#1. It’s brief—3 minutes, 24 seconds. As someone who finds it difficult to stay focused on any one item for very long, this is hugely important. The music is even more difficult to explain other than (a) it’s experimental and (b) it fits the video.

#2. There is a kind of natural unfolding, or progression, of the baby’s development. This reminds us how early a primitive heart develops. When the camera zooms in (actually zooms out), you have the first of many “Oh, Wow!” responses.

#3. This is especially true (for me) of the baby’s hand. One second a bud, the next the limb extends, the next fingers. Similarly for the feet.

#4. Before you know it, the baby “looks” more like a baby. Of course the child is no more or less a member of the human community than she was a few seconds (weeks, in real time) before.

She just looks more like the idealized image we carry around in our heads.

Obvious lesson? This is the developmental sequence we all go through.

#5. The baby moves about more and more, her fully formed eyes open.

When you get to the end, you find out that this is taken from “L’Odyssée de la vie”(“The Odyssey of Life”), a 2006 documentary.

Virtually everything is in French, which I neither read nor speak. Meaning I can’t give an overall thumbs up or down (or even sideways) to the documentary.

But I can wholeheartedly agree with “Just for Nurses”: this 3 minute, 24 second excerpt is “Amazing Must Watch… And share.”